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Athletes Inspire in Boulder

Eric McElvenny at the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on October 12, 2013

Two members of Team CHOCOLATE MILK served up inspirational racing at IRONMAN Boulder.

This article is sponsored by Team GOT CHOCOLATE MILK.

Eric McElvenny and Robert Verhelst continued their motivational IRONMAN journeys at IRONMAN Boulder a few weeks ago. Competing in his second IRONMAN race after racing alongside teammate Hines Ward at the IRONMAN World Championship last year, McElvenny was also competing in Boulder as a representative of the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Competing in his 16th IRONMAN race, Verhelst once again took on the challenge of completing the run portion of the race in full firefighter’s gear.

McElvenny masters again

An accomplished high school athlete, McElvenny represented the U.S. Naval Academy’s rugby team before being deployed as part of the Marine Corps to the Middle East.

On this third deployment to Afghanistan, McElvenny stepped on an IED in December, 2011, losing his right leg below the knee. During his recovery he learned about the Wounded Warriors Project, which helps military personnel who have lost limbs in combat rehabilitate themselves through sport.

McElvenny refused to let his injury “dictate the rest of his life” and quickly began to excel in triathlon. His positive attitude and obvious athletic talent got him to the finish line in an impressive 11:54:29 in Kona. In Boulder, despite the altitude, he managed to improve on that time, finishing in 11:41:56.

Verhelst’s long day

In 2001 Robert Verhelst spent eight days working Search, Rescue and Recovery at the World Trade Center – or what had been the World Trade Center until the day before. A decade later, to remember the tragic events of 9/11, and the 343 firefighters who lost their lives on that day, he raised money for the Code 3 for a Cure Foundation during his race at IRONMAN Wisconsin. To truly ensure he raised awareness he did the marathon in his full firefighter gear – all 65 pounds of it.

Since 2011 Verhelst has done 15 IRONMAN races, walking the run course with all the gear, raising money and awareness for a variety of charities. In 2012 he finished the IRONMAN World Championship in 16:40:03. At Boulder’s altitude Verhelst ran into some issues with an asthma condition, which forced him to pull out of the race during the run, but he’ll no-doubt be back on a start line again soon.

McElvenny and Verhelst competed at IRONMAN Boulder on behalf of Team CHOCOLATE MILK and both attribute some of their success as athletes to proper recovery. Their go-to post-workout drink is lowfat chocolate milk because it has the right mix of carbs and protein to help their bodies recover quickly so they are ready for their next challenge.

We caught up with Verhelst and McElvenny before their race in Boulder.